Shortage of PhD talent in Singapore's R&D industry: A*STAR

Singapore's national research agency A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology & Research) has said that the main challenge for the R&D sector here is the lack of sufficient PhD talent.

The agency said it expects to see a very strong need for PhD-level researchers in the near future, with Singapore's shift towards a knowledge-based economy.

Bringing science from the laboratory to the mass market - that's what 37-year-old Dr Gideon Ho chose to do.

The former A*STAR scholar decided to start his own bio-tech company that specialises in biomedical technology.

"Research shouldn't just be embedded within a lab itself. And one of the things which I firmly believe in is that, if you're going to impact the world with your research work, then you have to bring it to the world, you have to let the world be exposed to it," said Dr Ho, co-founder of HistoIndex.

His enterprising spirit and achievements has made him a role model of sorts.

A*STAR hopes that many others would follow suit in contributing to Singapore's research scene.